ARE YOU PREPARED?

COME AND FIND OUT HOW MARTINBOROUGH IS?

The earthquakes in July and August have given all of us a ‘shake up’ and a timely reminder that we cannot be complacent living in the ‘shaky isles’.

The Wellington Region Emergency Management Office has been planning to ensure that the region has a good response capability and as part of this is to have community response teams in the South Wairarapa.

The Martinborough Community Response Team’s leader, Karen Stephens, has worked in Civil Defence and emergency preparedness for over 16 years and she has volunteered her skills to help build Martinborough’s response plan. “We have a small team of volunteers who are working together to build a plan to ensure that we can support the community of Martinborough should a major earthquake or other situation arise where the community has to support itself.

The team will coordinate the needs of the community and work with Civil Defence to deal with the many welfare needs that will arise. We also expect that many people will want to help out when something like an earthquake happens, and part of the team’s job is to co-ordinate these spontaneous volunteers and the skills and resources they bring.”

To support this, arrangements have been made with the Martinborough Lions Club and the Marae to use their facilities in a major event.

“It is important that the community knows what they need to do and where to go if there is a major event” said Karen, “so we will be opening our Civil Defence Centre, the Lions Den in Oxford Street next to the medical centre, on Saturday 12th October from 10.00am to 12.00 to allow people to come and meet us and to get information.”